Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky
Written by F. Gorenshteyn and Andrei Tarkovsky from a novel by Stanislaw Lem
1972/USSR
IMDb page
First viewing/Criterion Channel
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
Dr. Snaut: We don’t want to conquer space at all. We want to expand Earth endlessly. We don’t want other worlds; we want a mirror. We seek contact and will never achieve it. We are in the foolish position of a man striving for a goal he fears and doesn’t want. Man needs man!
Tarkovsky creates a universe in which Earth may be the most precious and beautiful place of all, while making outer space mystical, terrifying, and eerily beautiful.
This is a long movie with a complicated plot and an obscure message. Probably impossible to sum up on a first viewing, at least by me.
The story begins with our protagonist psychologist Kris Kelvin exploring the wonders of the Russian countryside. He has been assigned to travel to a space station docked above an ocean on the planet of Solaris. The original crew numbered 80, now there are only three remaining. Some of the crew apparently went insane before they died. It is speculated that the ocean on the planet is some sort of intelligent life form. The authorities have decided to halt all research work on the station.
Kelvin meets with Anri Burton, a pilot and one of the few to return from Solaris many years ago. He shows a Burton a video made at the time showing him telling a roomful of authorities about his experience over Solaris. A fog came up and became solid turning itself into many things including a 12-foot tall human baby.
Kelvin arrives at the station. Only two of the scientists are still alive and they are hidden away in their separate labs. Kelvin locates the third man only to find he has committed suicide and left him a video. The man says he fears for the well-being of the others, who have already been affected, and particularly for Kelvin. He eventually locates the others and they seem to be hiding something. Eventually it comes out that they have “guests”.
After a while, Chris is visited by his estranged wife, who has been dead for ten years. They fall in love. The wife resurrects from the dead again at least a couple of times. A bunch more stuff happens but I think I’ll stop here. What does it mean to be human?
The first thing that hits the viewer when watching this movie is the amazing camera work and beautiful strains of Bach. Beauty characterizes every frame from there on. The movie was made as a response to Kubrick’s 2001 (1968) and I must say I prefer it to that film. This is warm and humane where Kubrick is cold and cynical. It also has a relatable story line. Admittedly, I can’t say what either film is trying to get across. Also, I thought this dragged at times. At any rate, see this before you die if you haven’t yet and bask in the images and sound.
Excellent fan trailer (dubbed).
I saw this movie very early in my odyssey as a film buff branching out into foreign films, art films and independent films. Solaris was my first Tarkovsky film. I doubt I had seen more than three or four Russian films.
I really hated it. Boy, did I hate it so much! I felt like I was slowly sinking into the floor of the theater and I would soon be ensconced in concrete and would never be able to escape. (I saw it about 1990 at a special screening in Los Angeles.)
I still have mixed feeling about Tarkovsky. I’ve seen Andrei Rublev three or four times and I love that. I liked The Mirror and Ivan’s Childhood. (I hated Stalker though.)
Sometimes I think maybe I should give Solaris another chance, but then I think “If I watch Tarkovsky again, I would rather see The Mirror again.” So I might watch Solaris again some day.
My husband wanted to tell me something while I was watching this. I said let me watch my movie. He said but nothing is happening! I had to agree. LOL. This is not one I will be watching again, despite its breathtaking eye candy. You would think with all the talking they do in this movie somebody would get to the point, but no.
This one is a puzzle to me – why can such a highly rated film be so unwatchable – (I gave up mid-film a while back, putting it down to Russian cultural values just not meshing with me – most Russian cinema had not personally appealed) then I came to your review soooo thought “must think again but I do NOT want to retry watching,,,ahhh YouTube reviews” (yes it’s someone else’s perception but if you cannot find one of your own… ). Liked this one – and may help with this:
“Admittedly, I can’t say what either film is trying to get across.”
Note in the comments there is an alternative view of the ending, I liked that alternative.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKxC5iZjrmI
From there I found a meditation on Solaris, the director and the nature of film itself which you MAY find interesting (note it is looong – 30 mins -, deep and perhaps inscrutable, it does return and leave Solaris at many points in it’s runtime. Cinematically is 10/10. I watched it all, the ending, a snippet from La Dolce Vita (still unseen by me) I considered an excellent choice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfz0b8ftizE
Once again – thanks for your continued musings.
There’s also a full-length commentary on the Criterion Channel where I watched this. But I didn’t have the strength to listen to it. One of the privileges of age I suppose. Instead, I took a break from adult cinema and watched Beware! The Blob yesterday.
How are things going with you in Queensland? I think Australia has done a fantastic job with the virus. It’s going to be a long dark winter here in the US of A.
“I took a break from adult cinema and watched Beware! The Blob yesterday.”…. and got your just deserts for behaving badly LOL
Yep things are chugging along pretty well here as lockdowns and border blocks seem to be helping – unlike your seeming shambles of inaction(but what will the future bring?? we can’t follow the grand American tradition of Isolationism forever – and Oz don’t have the big bucks and punching power that allows you to tell the world “go away”. Personally I think the genie is out of the bottle and sooner or later Oz/Qld are gonna have to live in a new COVID-is-here-to-stay reality. There is the possibility of a vaccine being developed but I fear money/government interference/human stupidity may mean any product is suspect.)
That election of yours has me puzzled. I mean who in their right mind could vote for Trump a second time, IMO he is only interested in helping himself, noone else. Worrying times that such a seemingly fractured country is the best safeguard of democracy. Biden seems to me to be only a stopgap.. To use the old saying, it’s near “the hour” but where is “the man”?
I can’t understand why people voted for him the first time. He made it perfectly clear who he was and what he wanted to do. And then he was even worse than what he promised. We have a lot of people in this country who are not too smart or educated. We also have a lot of people that are afraid that minorities, illegal immigrants, and (heaven forbid) poor people are going rise up and take away their goodies. That’s why they have to be locked and loaded. They are also afraid the government will tell them what to do or make them pay more taxes. Trump, a real demagogue, plays on these fears like a fiddle.
I am living with this by continually telling myself that Trump likes to make as much noise and threats as possible and there is no point in getting worked up about something that will probably never happen. He’s like a ten-year-old schoolyard bully.
I am afraid they are going to come up with several workable vaccines but anti-vaxxers, anti-maskers and Covid deniers will refuse to take it and we won’t be able to achieve herd immunity. I’ve had my flu shot and will take the vaccine. I don’t expect it to be available for a few months, at least, which should give additional time for it to show any safety concerns.
Trump is putting feelers out for a run in 2024. I hope he’s in jail before then.
Hmmm… Seriously I have not gotten any further in understanding Solaris. According to your review the keyword is: What does it mean to be human?
What is Solaris then saying about that? The Book says something similar, but no matter how much I try I cannot wrest an answer out of the movie.
Solaris creates physical apparitions from the memories of the scientists. Kris falls in love with his “guest” and ends up on an island from his memory on Solaris surface.
There are gaps there for me, probably hidden in the endless dialogue or in references to philosophical concepts unknown to me.
I loved uncovering Pascal in Romer’s My Night at Maud’s and I am looking for a similar clue to understand Solaris.
Ugh, this is probably beyond me.
This isn’t a message exactly but I was left with the idea that the real beauty and wonder is here on Earth.